The Jeondong Chronicles
Chapter Three:
My eyes flew open with a start. The water splashed around me, it's another motion disrupted by the sudden jerking of my body. I didn't care though, because I was in shock. I looked around to see I was alone in the pool. I looked up to see the water emerge from an unknown source and shower into the pool below. God, my father had been right, as he mostly was. I had seen so much in the visions. They had been erotic, nightmarish and full of suspense. I closed my eyes for a second and it all came flashing back to me. De Mi, the raven of the Night Prince and then the Night Prince himself, or an apparition of him leading his forces against Jeondong. Then there was the visit of the Goddess. She said we would meet soon. She hadn't mentioned when. I remembered then, my father's words. The visions of the King always come true. There are only a few instances when they don't. Many rulers tried to prevent them from happening, but they all failed in the end.
Well, I was happy with the first and the last one. I wanted Demi to be mine as fast as humanely possible. After missing her touch, her smile and her presence before me for so many years, I couldn't wait anymore. Even the mere thought of her made my heart beat quicker now. The last vision, about the goddess visiting me, I wasn't too worried about that. The priests of the White Order would be able to further communicate with the god's and would probably be able to narrow down the time frame or even guess the day when she would make her appearance. It would play out well. With De Mi by my side, it had to. But the second vision, that was the one that terrified me the most. It was the fear that the Night Prince would rise after being dead for a thousand years or more. If he were to truly rise again, he would directly come for my kingdom. He would come for this city, this very palace, the very throne on which I will sit within a few hours, for this is the place where he lost his power. Before I heard the story of Lee Min Woo the second from father, I knew him in another way. In fact every soul who had trained in the art of swordsmanship had heard of him. He was the greatest swordsman who ever lived, an idol to every teacher who ever taught the art of sword fighting. He was said to have no equal in the skill of fighting. He knew styles that had died away long ago, my teacher had said. But now, I knew now he had an equal, or a worthy opponent at the least. If the Night Prince was truly as skilled as Lee Min Woo, there was not a soul in the four kingdoms who could beat him in single combat now. If he got hold over Jeondong, he would be sitting at the junction of all the three kingdoms and darkness will descend over Wiozokan all over again, just like in the old ways. That would be end of everything and I couldn't let that happen. I would have to prepare to defend Jeondong. For now though, I could rest and focus on other things. Better things.
In a few hours I would be replacing my father at the throne. After bathing in the Fountain of Eternal Youth, I was in every way, worthy to wear the crown. I was only second to one person in matters of experience in the royal affairs, and that person was my father. I stretched my hands in front of me, looking for any significant changes to my body. There were none, except for the fact that my muscles seemed more defined all over my body. But on the inside, I felt a quiet energy flowing through me. It was nothing major, but it was there, seeming content to lie just underneath my skin. It had to be the power that the fountain had granted me. There lay before me now, the task of ruling the entire Kingdom of Jeondong. Then, there was something else, someone else.
De Mi. God, it's been so long since I had seen her. I dipped my hand in the pool, and I could tell that the sun was almost overhead now. It just showed me the sky. In a few hours, De Mi would be arriving at the docks in Haebaek. She would be here by sundown and I would finally mate her and take her as my queen. I relaxed back in the pool and closed my eyes, envisioning her naked, her curvy body pressed against me, her head on my chest, turned around as I stated into her eyes. Her soft moans as my finger teased and twirled her hard nipples between my fingers while my other hand reached down her flat, toned stomach down to her pussy. Her ass grinding against my hard cock as she rode my fingers hard and fast, until her orgasm spring forth, her back rising in a delicious arch that thrust her lips onto me and I devoured her lips as she rode her orgasm hard on my fingers till she had no energy left to do so. I opened my eyes, my cock as hard as a rock. Over the years I had only one woman in mind when I made myself come. Thoughts and fantasies of fucking De Mi would always make me come so hard, that I had trouble getting up for a while after that. From tonight, all those fantasies would be turned to reality. I slowly willed my erection to die down, pushing my lustful thoughts away, or else I would make a mess right here in the Fountain of Eternal Youth. I figured that the god's wouldn't take that lightly.
I slowly got out of the pool to find a towel that wasn't there. " Well, thank you!" I said to no one in particular, or to the person who had left the towel. I dried myself and put on my ceremonial outfit once again. Once I was done, I slowly began climbing up the broken stairs of the ancient cavern that had long guarded the secrets of the Royal family. Once I was back into the library, I slowly pressed my index finger into the outstretched book's spine. Once the book was back in it's place, the bookshelf slid back into its place with a soft creak. Then the place was normal once again, as if there were no secrets that it hid behind itself. I turned around to see the elderly woman who was in charge of the Library. Age had really changed the woman's appearance. However, her smile was as radiant ever, like the one she gave me now and then went about her business like before. I left the library, walking through the wide hallways until I reached the staircase. I strolled up up to the fourth floor of the palace, which comprised of five enormous living quarters of the five children of the royal family. I had expected the place to be empty, since my siblings weren't due to arrive until a while. I was pleasantly surprised though to see all four of them were there, gathered in front of my room, chatting away with each other.
The eldest, after me was Ho Jin, the successor to the commander of the Jeondong Royal Army. His mother, was Soo Jae. Ho Jin would soon take over the position from the current commander, who happens to be my uncle. It was an unwritten rule in the royal court that upon the ascension of a new king, the most important positions in the kingdom would also be passed on to the next generation. Although my brother didn't need any of those rules to prove that he was the true heir to the position. He was slightly taller than me, built like an ox and had strength that was unmatched throughout the army. Even now, he was the commander of the first, second and third royal divisions of the infantry, which consisted of the best infantrymen in the kingdom. He was equally skilled on horseback, with a bow in his hand and pretty much everything that could be called a weapon. His immense skill paired with his inhumane strength made him the clear successor to the commander position. No one was foolish enough to challenge him.
My next sibling, who was laughing next to Ho Jin was my sister Li Na, daughter of Hyun Jung. She was currently wearing a rather beautiful hanbok, which was quite odd to see, because on a normal day, she would only wear her armour all day, every day. It was all I ever saw her in. She was the leader of an elite group which comprises of the best female soldiers in the kingdom. They specialised in infiltration, assassination and the likes of those. Every woman in that group would give nightmares to even the best soldiers in the army. They were that good in their craft. My sister founded the group when she was eighteen. What started with ten women had slowly grown to be a group of five hundred women who were spread all over the kingdom, performing various tasks and keeping a lookout for any spies from the other kingdoms. When I was younger, I used to come back to the palace later at night, my sister always knew where I had been. She told me, "It is for your own protection." I was sure she was just watching me for the fun of it. I didn't mind. Li Na's unit was one of the most valuable units to the army. They never appeared where there was a prospect of head to head combat. Rather, they stayed in the shadows. But no matter what, I was proud of my sister for what she had achieved. She deserved all the credit she could get and more.
Facing her side was Min Kyu, Dang Hoe's son. He was probably the most mysterious person I knew. He was never in the court, hearing royal affairs. Instead he would don his cloak that my father had given him on his tenth birthday and roam the streets as an anonymous person. When I asked him about it, he simply replied, you never know the dangers that could hide in plain daylight. But I never doubted his actions for a second. He had caught numerous criminals that often Li Na's soldiers had failed to capture. The times when he was not roaming the kingdom in his hood, he would laugh and play with us just like a normal person. So I had no doubt about his daily actions. He was slightly shorter than my brother, almost the same height as Li Na. However his most impressive feat, was one which no one saw coming. In the only royal tournament he ever contested in, he managed to win, besting my brother in a duel, a thing we all thought to be impossible. His technique was unique, not that which was taught in the royal barracks. It was something else. Sleek, fluid and elegant, his sword moved with him as if it was a part of his body. Later, when Ho Jin asked him where he had learnt it, he simply said, a master who sells dolls in Manhae had taught him. It was only at the age of sixteen when he had achieved that. Now, he was the general of the royal cavalry. His mysterious edge hadn't lessened a bit though. Perhaps we all liked him that way.
Last but not the least, beside him was the most cheerful sibling amongst all of us, Yung Hee, daughter of Yun Her, my father's fifth wife. While all of us siblings were interested in some form of combat from our childhood, she was interested in art, reading and deciphering ancient scrolls. She was really good at it too, often helping out at the royal library along with the other scholars. Like Min Kyu, she liked to roam the streets of the kingdom, travelling from one part of Jeondong to the other in search of new ideas for her art or in search of ancient scrolls. She owned a sculpture shop in the streets of Tokseong. She would spend a lot of her time there. Li Na, being concerned about her security had requested father to put a group of soldiers outside her shop without her knowing. She had eventually figured out and it had led to one of the rare arguments she had with her sister. In the end though, she agreed to let the soldiers guard her but made Li Na promise that it would be a small number and that the guards would be from her unit. Li Na was only happy to agree. She had found a place where she could send her recovering soldiers in order to keep them busy.
Li Na turned around, her face breaking into a smile when she saw me, "Brother, come on in!!!"
Soon all the siblings were walking towards me, except Yung Hee who was running. She tackled me with a hug with a large glee on her face. "Brother, it's so good to see you." Extracting herself from me, she smoothened her dress, placing her delicate hands on my wrist, " You're worried, I can see it. Calm down, you got this, you will be a great king." This was another one of her talents. No one could hide anything from her.
Her smile reached up to her eyes, somehow calming the anxiety I didn't know was building through me. She was then followed by Min Kyu who slapped my shoulder twice on both sides, "You will be great brother. You've trained long and hard for this. Nothing will be going wrong today."
Ho Jin came and put an arm around me. "Why so glum brother? Everything will be okay." He was then followed by Li Na who hugged me, which was uncharacteristic for her and whispered words of affirmation in my ears. We then slowly dissolved into conversation. My siblings told me where they had been in the last week, which was a rare occasion because all four of them were out at the same time. Yung Hee told me about her new art inspiration, the plains of Kayeong. Ho Jin told me about his new sword made in Dongju. Li Na told me about the spy she had taken out in Tanyeong who had been sent by the mad ruler of Yangpo. Min Kyu told me about the infamous murderer who had killed a lot of people and been on the run, but had been ultimately caught by him. My brothers and sisters were all in good mood and I could not help but feel the same way too.
That's when my father appeared. All conversations ceased momentarily. "Father, you're here!" Li Na went over to hug him and soon all my brothers and sisters greeted him. Li Na was perhaps the most favoured child among the five but we were all okay with that. At the end of the day we were siblings after all.
